Sunday 27 September 2015 22:31, UK
Hatem Ben Arfa scored twice, including a superb solo effort, as 10-man Nice ended St Etienne's five-match winning run in Ligue 1 with a 4-1 victory on Sunday.
The mercurial forward came to the fore after Vincent Koziello's fifth-minute opener was cancelled out by Loic Perrin a quarter of an hour later.
First, the former Newcastle player put Nice ahead before netting a wonder goal on the stroke of half-time, dribbling past several defenders before shooting low across St Etienne goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier from a tight angle.
Jean Seri rounded off the scoring in the 53rd minute and, even though Nampalys Mendy was dismissed just after the hour mark, Nice held on to secure their third win in a row and ensure second-placed St Etienne remain four points behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
The biggest shock of the day came at the Stade Velodrome as Marseille suffered a 2-1 defeat to surprise package Angers.
The top-flight newcomers took the lead through Thomas Mangani's 38th-minute penalty before Romain Thomas doubled their lead midway through the second half.
The hosts were offered hope with 10 minutes left when Michy Batshuayi also converted from the penalty spot but, despite late efforts from L'OM, Angers left with all three points.
Nicolas Benezet's superb 89th-minute strike denied Monaco a second successive away win inside a week as Guingamp claimed a 3-3 draw.
Goals from Bernardo Silva, Andrea Raggi and Nabil Dirar seemed likely to hand Leonardo Jardim's side the win, despite having twice squandered the lead to goals from Sloan Privat and Benezet.
Montpellier moved off the bottom of the table after claiming their first three points of the season with a 2-1 win over Lorient.
Despite Ramy Bensebaini's early strike being cancelled out by Rafidine Abdullah, who was later sent off, Jonas Martin's 57th-minute effort sealed victory for Montpellier.
